Raising the Wolves

My father raised seven brilliant orphans to be my potential husbands. For years, I only had eyes for one of them, the cold and distant Caspian Vance, believing his distance was a wall I just had to break through. That belief shattered last night when I found him in the garden, kissing his foster sister, Lyra—the fragile girl my family took in at his request, the one I had treated like my own sister. But the true horror came when I overheard the other six Ashworth Fellows talking in the library. They weren't competing for me. They were working together, orchestrating "accidents" and mocking my "stupid, blind" devotion to keep me away from Caspian. Their loyalty wasn't to me, the heiress who held their futures in her hands. It was to Lyra. I wasn't a woman to be won. I was a foolish burden to be managed. The seven men I grew up with, the men who owed my family everything, were a cult, and she was their queen. This morning, I walked into my father's study to make a decision that would burn their world to the ground. He smiled, asking if I'd finally won Caspian over. "No, Dad," I said, my voice firm. "I'm marrying Silas Blackwood."

Chapters

Chapter 13

Caspian's face was a mask of agony. "Seraphina, stop it!" he pleaded. "Don't do this. Don't tear everything apart."

Suddenly, the other Fellows surged forward, forming a protective wall around Lyra.

"You've gone too far, Seraphina!" Ronan yelled.

"She's an orphan! Have you no pity?" Liam added.

They all stood there, a united front, protecting their queen from the rightful lady of the house.

I laughed. A cold, empty sound. "Get out of my way," I said, my eyes sweeping over them. "Unless you all want to go down with her."

They froze, exchanging nervous glances.

"You think we were involved?" Mateo asked, his eyes narrowed.

I just smiled, a slow, predatory smile, and held up the USB drive. "I didn't want to do this, Lyra. I really didn't. But you forced my hand."

I turned to the butlers. "Bring me a new projector."

As the staff scurried to set it up, I addressed the stunned crowd, my voice ringing with newfound power. "You see, after I started to suspect I was being deceived, I had my entire wing of the house fitted with state-of-the-art surveillance. I just wanted to catch them mocking me." My gaze swept over the Fellows, who now looked sick. "But I caught so much more."

I walked to the new projector and inserted the USB drive. "Let's watch something a little more... stimulating, shall we?"

Caspian and Lyra's faces were white with terror. The other six Fellows looked like they were about to be sick.

"You spied on us?" Ronan choked out. "That's disgusting!"

"Is it?" I replied calmly. "I call it protecting my home from thieves and liars."

I nodded to the technician. "Play it."

The screen lit up. The first thing we heard was a woman's breathy moan. Then a face filled the screen. It was Lyra, her face flushed with passion. She was tangled in bedsheets with a man.

But the man wasn't Caspian. It was Liam.

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